Lawyer: Toronto mayor Rob Ford to seek help for substance abuse

TORONTO — Toronto Mayor Rob Ford will take a leave of absence to seek help for substance abuse, his lawyer said Wednesday.

Dennis Morris said he spoke to Ford earlier Wednesday and said Ford has accepted that he has a problem.

"He acknowledges he has a substance abuse problem and he wants to do something about it," Morris told The Associated Press.

Ford, who is seeking re-election in the October election, acknowledged last year after months of denials that he smoked crack in a "drunken stupor" after police said they obtained a video that appears to show him smoking crack. The video has never been released to the public.

News reports of the crack video's existence first surfaced last May, igniting a media firestorm around Ford. He careened from one scandal to another, becoming a national embarrassment for many Canadians.